


Promise Me

by TrashTrish



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Bisexual Aang (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Aang (Avatar), Zukaang (Aged Up) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25731178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashTrish/pseuds/TrashTrish
Summary: His past has been dealt with.The Ghosts now rest.But there is one more promise he has to make.
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83
Collections: Forever Zukaang





	Promise Me

His head was finally clear, clearer than it had been in so long. He couldn't remember the last time he wasn't weighed down by his past in some way and now, he was still a work in progress but he was a work in progress who was actually starting to feel like progress had been made.

He was lying in Zuko's arms, being held by the man he loved. He felt safe and loved and more secure than he ever had before. Zuko was home. No matter where they were he would ground him and give him the only sense of home he truly had since he left the Southern Air Temple a century ago. He realised this on their way home. The day after they left the Air Temple he had come to realise he didn't feel the same longing for it he once had. The place he had once called home would always be special to him, it would always be the place he called home. But Zuko was his home now. He was his future. The person who could make anyplace home. it was a nice feeling, knowing he would never be without a home again.

He turned in his love's arms and snuggled closer. He squeezed a little tighter which made Zuko laugh. "Careful, you're stronger than you look," Zuko whispered into his head.

"I'd never hurt you," he mumbled in contentment.

"I know but it doesn't mean you won't stop my breathing by squeezing too tight."

He sighed. "FIne, I'll let you go." He started to loosen his grip when Zuko grabbed his arm.

"No!" Zuko said faster than he'd ever heard him speak. "Don't let go."

So he didn't.

He held on a little gentler, but no less loving and fierce than he'd been before.

"I won't let go," he whispered.

He closed his eyes and felt Zuko's lips against his nose.

"You look better." 

"I feel better. I feel like I can finally be who I need to be."

Another kiss. "I'm glad."

A heartbeat passed between them, still holding each other, face to face.

"I never thought home could be a person before," he told Zuko. "But you're my home now."

He opened his eyes and was met with the most beautiful smile on Zuko's face. It was a smile that would capture anyone's heart, even the coldest and most unforgiving of people. It was that smile he could stare at every second of every minute of every hour for the rest of his life and never grow bored. It was the smile he wanted to see in the faces of their children and grandchildren and their great-grandchildren. His world was alright as long as Zuko smiled at him like that. He hoped that smile would be the last thing he would ever see as he lay dying. It would be the most perfect way to go, regardless of when or how he went. Zuko's smile would bring him peace.

"I feel the same way. I could be anywhere in the world and be happy as long as I have you there with me."

"I love you, Sifu Hotman." He pressed a sloppy kiss against Zuko's nose and grinned like a loon.

Zuko's smile grew sombre. "I love you too. But promise me something?"

"Anything," he swore, not needing to hear what it was.

"Promise me that when the time comes, when _my_ time comes, that you'll come for me, that I won't have to face it alone."

"Zuko," he choked out, not wanting to think about it.

"Coming to terms with the fact I'll outlive you isn't easy, but I am getting better with it each and every day. I didn't lie about that. Every second with you is worth it. But I need to know you'll come for me in the end, that we'll be reunited and I won't be alone at the end." Zuko sounded so fragile, like he had thought more than once about the possibility of spending the rest of time alone in death, and it broke Aang's heart because he knew how that could feel. He knew what the fear of being alone could be.

He cradled his love's face between his hands. "I promise," he whispered, still choked up at the thought but wanting to reassure the man he loved more than life itself. "I'll be there. I'll come for you. I'll guide you into the afterlife and we'll spend eternity together." He pressed their foreheads together. "I promise."


End file.
